The Health and food safety commissioner Stella Kyriakidou said all EU member states will receive vaccines against monkeypox by end of June.
According to Kyriakidou, vaccines would be delivered according to the needs of each country. Priority will be given to countries with higher monkeypox cases.
Since the disease has only spread locally, a massive immunization effort like Covid-19 isn’t necessary, according to her. Because the risk of disease transmission is low, we aren’t considering a vaccine plan for the entire community.
The ECDC, according to Kyriakidou, is keeping a close eye on the situation and will step in if necessary. No cases have been detected in Cyprus, but Health Minister Hadjipantela informed me that a plan is being developed in the event of an outbreak.
At the end of May, the Covid-19 Scientific Committee met to discuss which populations should be vaccinated against monkeypox immediately. They talked about how to deal with a monkeypox outbreak in Cyprus and the rules that would apply.
Other topics discussed were patient admission and transfer, therapy, and the management of the epidemiology unit.